Well it’s coming along nicely. As you can see with this page I have thrown all of December’s “news” into its own archive. It’s the twentieth archive off of this the main page. That’s a lot of ranting and raving. Only archives ten-sixteen needs to be converted. Then the Working stuff and I’m done with the makeover.

While doing the conversion of those pages it was nice to read some of the old stuff that has happened. Old friends who I have lost touch with. It’s a shame things have to happen the way they do. On the 31st of this month the website will be going on the start of it’s fourth year. That’s wild. I also turn 29 in March. I’m not looking forward to that. Of course the year after I will be thirty.

Sorry I’m getting sentimental reading about everything in the archives.

Well I had a few problems at work. Although it wasn’t really a problem, more of a mistake on my part. I do the audit at the hotel. It’s my job to do all the paperwork and such. I use the computer to do backups of our data. The computer then posts the room and tax. Very simple. On the first day of the New Year you are supposed to do a back up before the audit. I was misinformed about some of the procedures. So in essence I was walking a tightrope without the safety net.

Happy New Year! Like I said, I was alone for it. The Ross’s stopped in to see me. I hadn’t seen them in ages. I do owe Mr. Ross a hug. It would have been a great male bonding moment. Next time.

Almost a hour away to the New Year and I’m stuck working again. If you go out tonight make sure you have a few for me. Ok? I stopped into my favorite watering hole and had a beer. That’s all I’m going to get. Last year I was all alone when the New Year came. So I’m sure it will be that way again.

Well the New Year is just around the corner. I think it will be a little weird seeing it’s going to be the year 2001. I am a sci-fi freak, so that date of course has some meaning to me. Next to 1984 that is. Of course the year 2001 won’t be like Clarke’s book or the Kurbick movie for that matter. Are we even close? I don’t think so. Just see if you can get your computer to talk to you. Mine won’t answer me. The space program isn’t even close to what the book and movie portray. Hell NASA can’t even send a probe to Mars, let alone go out to Jupiter. But I digress.

I have to work the the third shift tonight. In the last four years the only New Years Eve I had off was the one I was unemployed for. I asked for it off again, as I did last year. Both times I had put in my request in advance. Both times I have been given some lame ass excuse. I think it’s more that they (the hotel) doesn’t want my co-worker to be on. The reason? Well I have been told by a number of people that my co-worker has a habit of screwing up. A few of the managers will ask me on the eve of a big holiday if I work? When I tell them no it’s not me they say “oh no”. What can you do?

So I’m going to wish everyone a safe New Years Eve now. Try to stay out of trouble.

A few things. First, December 6th was Mark J’s birthday. Last year we went to one those establishments that features scantily clad females. This year I missed the celebration. I also have to say hello to Laura Who would kick my ass if I didn’t.

I’m also trying to make sure the site is viewable for resolutions of 800×600. The ideal resolution is still 1024×768. But I’m making progress. I still say that there is no good reason someone shouldn’t have at least resolutions of 1024×768. But that is of course my opinion.

A few people have been expecting me to mention something from a couple of Thursdays ago. Now I have been not mentioning this subject on purpose. But, by popular demand here I go. On early Friday morning the 15th of this month I was robbed. Two guys came in to the hotel and held me up at gun point. It was an interesting experience. I never expected this kind of thing to happen at the hotel. I worked for over a year at an convenience store and always expected this kind of thing to happen there. But it never did. This is what the local newspaper had to say about it:

South Beloit hotel robbed early today

A South Beloit hotel was robbed by two armed individuals early this morning.
Two men, one armed with a gun, walked into the Holiday Inn of Greater Beloit, 200 Dearborn Ave., in South Beloit, at 12:53 a.m. today and demanded money from the front desk attendant.
The men fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash.
South Beloit Police Department Acting Chief Richard King said the investigation of the robbery will be turned over to the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department for further investigation.
King also said a witness was able to provide physical descriptions of the two suspects.
No one was harmed in the incident.
The sheriff’s department was called to the scene last night to help with the crime scene investigation.

So I came to adopt a way of thinking about a event like this. I always said if something happened I would not think about it. My reasoning was that if you spent time worrying about something like that, when it happened you would either panic or do something heroic. And hey I’m no hero. The hotel doesn’t pay me enough to be a hero.

So back to my banditos. These two goons walk into the hotel. One white, one black. The white guy had the gun. It was a nice shiny pistol. Long barrel, yet kind of tiny. This guy asked for the money in a tone of voice of someone who might be a little afraid of what he was doing. The black guy was definitely nervous. Me, I was more nervous myself than scared. What can you do in a situation like this? You just do what the asshole wants. So I gave the scumbag the money. I even asked if he wanted the checks and coins. The only ting I didn’t do for the guy was give him a bag that he asked for. I didn’t have one. Then the crooks left wishing me a merry Christmas. On foot. The local police didn’t get them. Crooks on foot, cops in police cars, go figure?

A bartender from the hotel had the privilege to be with me for this little episode. The local cops had me and the bartender fill out statements. Nothing professional or anything it was just us writing down what happened on the hotels legal pads. In my statement I refer to the crooks as banditos and say that they were nice enough for not stealing my personal money. The county cops are handling the investigation, and they felt my statement was a little odd. They still have yet to contact me. They called the hotel and talked to the general Manager. He tried to explain to the cops that just was the way I am. I figured they would make me a suspect. Just because I have a smart ass attitude. Oh well. Live and learn.

So the lesson we should all learn from this is that when you fill out a police statement don’t be a smartass.